Jeff Flake in New Op-Ed: My Former GOP Colleagues ‘Denying Objective Reality’ by Insisting Trump Did Nothing Wrong

Former Senator Jeff Flake has an op-ed out in the Washington Post tonight telling his former Republican colleagues, “President Trump is on trial. But in a very real sense, so are you. And so is the political party to which we belong.”

Back in September, Flake implored Republicans to stop their embrace of President Donald Trump and said, “My fellow Republicans, it is time to risk your careers in favor of your principles. Whether you believe the president deserves impeachment, you know he does not deserve reelection.”

Today Flake says Republicans are “denying objective reality” by continuing to says “the president did nothing wrong.”

“My colleagues, the danger of an untruthful president is compounded when the coequal branch follows that president off the cliff, into the abyss of unreality and untruth,” he writes.

Around this time last year, Flake said “somebody needs to” challenge Trump in the 2020 GOP primary because “the country needs to be reminded what it means to be conservative, certainly on the Republican side, and what it means to be decent as well.”

Regarding impeachment, he says there are defensible reasons to support removing Trump and to oppose it. But Flake wants Republicans to stop saying there’s nothing there:

The willingness of House Republicans to bend to the president’s will by attempting to shift blame with the promotion of bizarre and debunked conspiracy theories has been an appalling spectacle. It will have long-term ramifications for the country and the party, to say nothing of individual reputations.

Nearly all of you condemned the president’s behavior during the 2016 campaign. Nearly all of you refused to campaign with him. You knew then that doing so would be wrong — would be a stain on your reputation and the standing of the Republican Party, and would do lasting damage to the conservative cause.

You can read here.